When Jep is walking home after visiting his strip club owner friend he exchanges greetings with a woman at the stairs. They pause briefly, smile then continue their separate ways.
What do you think were their thoughts?
She is Fanny Ardant, famous French actress. He recognized her and whispered her name mostly for himself ("Madame Ardant"). She replied in French. Maybe Jep can't speak French so he is just looking at her, delighted he met her. Maybe they just exchanged the brief feeling of human warmth and then parted knowing, there is nothing more they can do.
Ah! That explains a lot, I should get my hearing checked, I thought it was a random greeting to a stranger. Thanks a lot.
I thought she was a woman of his past. Maybe a girlfriend or an affair. An old nice story that ended a long time ago. They both know there is no future together but they still believe the other one is nice and desirable. So they are happy to see each other but there is nothing to talk about.
shareThat scene was one of the most beautiful ones in the film. I guess he was a fan of her (actress Fanny Ardant). For me, it was like when someone meets a famous person and tells him/her that he/she is a fan and adores his/her work. That scene was something like that but without words. And that smile of him told her all that and she appreciated it and wished him a good night. That was all. Very simple and beautiful.
Btw., I liked all those scenes in the night where he was taking a walk in Rome (I guess, it was like 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning). It's magic to take a walk in a very big city during that time. Even a very big and busy city like that is very calm and peaceful during 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning.